Page 969

1860-'61.] Document No. 22. 3
through the Virginia and North-Carolina sections of the
i;anal and through Currituck Sound to Albemarle Sound ;
thence to Elizabeth city and up the Pasquotank river to the
tmtlet of the Dismal Swamp canal, and through said canal
to the Elizabeth river, and down the river to Norfolk. This
trip, occupying some three days, afforded me an opportunity
of comparing by actual observation the capacities of the two
works, furnishing, as they are expected to furnish, outlets for
a considerable portion of our commerce, as well also of com-paring
the character of the work on the two canals, and of
forming some idea of the necessity existing for the construf-tion
of the one in which our State is interested as a stock-holder.
The improvement contemplated by the Albemarle and Ches-apeake
Canal Company has been so often described since its
commencement, in the official reports of the President an<l
Engineer, and by many who have examined the same, and
having been also personally inspected by your Excellency
,
that any detailed description in this report is wholly unneces-sary
and uncalled for by your instructions. The navigation
intended to be improved, and to be opened by the company, is
somewhat over sixty miles in length. Ofthis distance, 14.10
miles is the canal proper, located thus :—in North Carolina,
from North river to Currituck Sound, 5.65 miles; and in Vir-ginia,
from North Landing river, through Great Bridge
Swamp, to the South-west branch of Elizabeth river, 8.45
miles. The remaining distance consists of natural water
courses, which, in some places, require deepening, in order to
obtain a uniform capacity of eight feet. The width of these
streams is amply sufficient to accommodate vessels of the larg-e.
st size.
The canal is entered some 12^ miles from the City of Nor-folk,
through a lock, connecting its waters with the waters ot
Elizabeth river. This lock, which is the only one on th<^;
whole line of navigation, is built in a substantial and durabb>
manner ofrough dressed granite, reflecting much credit on the

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1860-'61.] Document No. 22. 3
through the Virginia and North-Carolina sections of the
i;anal and through Currituck Sound to Albemarle Sound ;
thence to Elizabeth city and up the Pasquotank river to the
tmtlet of the Dismal Swamp canal, and through said canal
to the Elizabeth river, and down the river to Norfolk. This
trip, occupying some three days, afforded me an opportunity
of comparing by actual observation the capacities of the two
works, furnishing, as they are expected to furnish, outlets for
a considerable portion of our commerce, as well also of com-paring
the character of the work on the two canals, and of
forming some idea of the necessity existing for the construf-tion
of the one in which our State is interested as a stock-holder.
The improvement contemplated by the Albemarle and Ches-apeake
Canal Company has been so often described since its
commencement, in the official reports of the President an
manner ofrough dressed granite, reflecting much credit on the